Bone-black kiln



No. 624,5!0. Patented May 9, I899. E. LISTER.

BONE BLACK KI'LN.

(Application filed Sept. 27, 1897.) (No Model.)

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN LISTER, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

BONES-BLACK KILN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent no. 624,510, dated May 9, 1899.

Application filed September 2'7, 1897. Serial No. 653,484. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN LISTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Retorts for Oarbonizing Bone, &c.; and I do hereby' declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. Y I

This invention relates to that class of retorts which are adapted to be stationed within a furnace in a series and are open at their upper ends to receive the bone or other materials to he acted on and at their lower ends to allow the products to gravitate automatically into a suitable receptacle below.

The objects of the present improvement are to secure a more even or uniform carbonization of bone or other material, to reduce the cost of manufacturing bone-black, and to secure other advantages and results, some of which may be referred to hereinafter in connection with the description of the working parts.

The invention consists in the improved retort for carbonizing bone, &c., and in the arrangements and combinations of parts thereof, all substantially as will be hereinafter set forth, and finally embraced in the clauses of the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the several views, Figures 1 and 2 are longitudinal sections of the improved retort, taken at right angles one with the other through the center of the device; and Fig. 3 is a detail plan of a certain shelf or support ad apted to be arranged within the retort to hold the bone or other material acted on up to a desired elevation, where it will receive the full benefit of the heat.

In the said drawings, a indicates a portion of a furnace, and b a retort suitably stationed therein, the center parts of said retort being exposed to the fire-chamber of the furnace, where the greatest heat has full play thereon. The ends of said retorts are of reduced diamopenings, so as to perfectly prevent the es-' cape of gas, the joints being preferably sealed With clay or the like to secure the desired impermeability. These covers may be held in place by clamping-screws (Z or in any other suitable manner. The hole m in the Walls of the retort, together with the tube or connected therewith, permits of the gases generated during the process of carbonization being led oifto a proper place for their use or disposal.

Within and near the bottom of the retort a recess 9 is formed in one side, and in this recess and near the top thereof is hinged a shelf or support 6, adapted to hang vertically in the said recesswhen opened to permit the retort contents to drop downward. Said shelf or support in its vertical position does not project in any considerable degree out from I the recess g into the body-chamber proper of the retort, and thus the contents of the retort are allowed to fall freely and quickly without obstruction through the open end 5 into the receptacle below. The recess 9 extends upward to about the line of the inner surface of the bottom wall of the furnace, and the shelf or support e is pivoted at such a height that when closed into horizontal position said shelf or support will hold the contents of the retort up to where the heat is at full strength. Immediately below the horizontal plane of the closed shelf or support the retort is surrounded with the said furnace-walls, and so is cooler and incapable of producing the desired carbonization were the bones allowed to lie therein during the burning operations. The said shelf or support 8 is preferably of cast or wrought iron and is at its free end notched or open, as at. c, Fig. 3. Adjacent to this opening e the retort is provided with a latch or fastener f, which is arranged vertically in bearings formed at the side of the opening in the retort opposite the hingebearin gs of the shelf or support andis adapted 'to be turned in said bearings by the attendant when the bottom cover or head is opened. The upper end of the latch is bent, as at e, so

as to engage the under side of the shelf when in its horizontal position and hold the free end of said shelf so that it lies approximately in the line or plane of the inner surface of the lower furnace-wall, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. of the latch from its catching relation to the shelf or support the said shelf is allowed to gravitate, the bend in the latch passing through the notch or opening as the shelf descends, so as not to obstruct such descent. The bend in the latch is about the size of the opening c. When the latch is thus turned into coincidence with said opening, the shelf or support drops automatically to a vertical position, and thus allows the carbonized bone to drop or gravitate into a suitable receptacle below. The shelf being arranged and independently fastened considerably above and away from the lower cover or head, the operation of sealing the head imperviously is not interfered with by the weight or pressure of the bones, and as a result said sealing or closure of the lower cover or head is facilitated and rendered more easy.

By the construction thus described all of the bone in the retort will receive the full and uniform degree of heat of the furnace, and I avoid what has frequently rendered the product defective because of its containing a -quantity of partially-carbonized product which is of inferior color and is deficient in the 'qualities required in purifying sugar, &c. By hinging the shelf or support to the inside of the retort, as shown in the drawings, I avoid the use of slides and the like, such as have sometimes been employed, and thus secure greater impermeability to the air, and the retorts can be more easily removed from the furnace for repair than when said slides are used.

In operating the device the workman after the charge has been burned or carbonized simply removes the lower cover and with a suitable tool, such as a crank or wrench, turns the latchfand brings the end thereof into coincidence with the opening 6, thus allowing the shelf or support to drop, when the product gravitates, as before indicated, into By turning the hooked or bent end a receptacle, where it is closed from the air and allowed to cool. 1

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is- 1. The combination with the furnace ct,having upper and lower horizontal walls, of an interiorly-recessed retort, stationed at its center parts in said furnace and at its opposite ends extending through the said upper and lower walls, the said retort being open at the top and bottom and at each of the openings provided with a cover adapted to imperviously close said openings as described, and the lower opening, at a point in line with the inner surface of the lower wall and at the upper end of the recess at the side of said opening, having hinge-bearings for a shelf with said shelf arranged thereon, and a support forsaid shelf arranged within the opening upon the inside walls of the retort and adapted to support the free end of the shelf and hold the same horizontally in approximate line with the inner face of the lower wall, and means for holding the covers in impervious relation to the ends of the retort-body, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with thefurnace a,having upper and lower horizontal walls, of a re tort stationed at its center parts in said furnace and at its opposite ends extending through the said upper and lower walls of the furnace and, at its lower end, where it passes through the lower wall of the furnace and, interiorly, at one side of the opening, a recess, covers for closing imperviously the open ends of the retort, a shelf hinged-at the upper end of the recess, a support for the free end of the shelf holding the latter approximately in line with the inner face of the lower wall and EDWIN LISTER. I

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. PELL, V O. B. PITNEY. 

